ALBERT

Description: Climate change has become a major political concern for many people. There has been a lot of talk and no lack of calls for action. But to what extent does the world, and particularly Europe, also do the walking? Where do we stand with regard to meeting our long-term climate goals? Charlotte Unger is Research Associate at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Potsdam, Germany. She is a specialist in national and international climate policy and, as a participant in several climate conferences, has first-hand experience of the negotiations over climate action. She analyses the aspirations and what the challenges are to achieve them, also zooming in on the role the EU has played and can play in the future to ensure that words become reality...within the deadlines pledged.

Description: Um globale Klimaschutzziele zu erreichen, müssen möglichst alle Staaten aktiv, fair und eigenverantwortlich zusammenarbeiten. Das gilt besonders für Deutschland, die EU und ihre Mitgliedstaaten als dem Interessenausgleich verpflichtete Demokratien.

Description: In den vergangenen sechs Jahrzehnten sind Natur, Umwelt und wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse über den Zusammenhang von Umweltschäden und Klimaveränderungen auf ein wachsendes Interesse der Öffentlichkeit gestoßen. Zivilgesellschaftliche Initiativen, die Umweltbewegung, Umweltverbände und zuletzt Fridays for Future mobilisierten mit ihrem Engagement zwar die (internationale) politische Ebene. Doch politische Maßnahmen müssen vielfältigen Interessen gerecht werden und bedürfen möglichst breiter gesellschaftlicher Akzeptanz, um Wirkung zu entfalten.

Description: In this article we review the physical and chemical properties of methane (CH4) relevant to impacts on climate, ecosystems, and air pollution, and examine the extent to which this is reflected in climate and air pollution governance. Although CH4 is governed under the UNFCCC climate regime, its treatment there is limited to the ways in which it acts as a “CO2 equivalent” climate forcer on a 100-year time frame. The UNFCCC framework neglects the impacts that CH4 has on near-term climate, as well its impacts on human health and ecosystems, which are primarily mediated by methane’s role as a precursor to tropospheric ozone. Frameworks for air quality governance generally address tropospheric ozone as a pollutant, but do not regulate CH4 itself. Methane’s climate and air quality impacts, together with its alarming rise in atmospheric concentrations in recent years, make it clear that mitigation of CH4 emissions needs to be accelerated globally. We examine challenges and opportunities for further progress on CH4 mitigation within the international governance landscapes for climate change and air pollution.

Description: Few challenges pose a greater threat to a healthy planet and people than air pollution and climate change. Over the past three decades, research has demonstrated that integrated solutions to air pollution and climate change can yield co-benefits that support cost-effective, coherent policies. However, research on co-benefits has yet to generate policy responses consistent with this promise. This paper argues that realizing this potential requires more rigorous research on how governance affects the opportunities and incentives to align the interests of government agencies, scientists, and other stakeholders at multiple levels. The article proposes a “One Atmosphere approach” consisting of three building blocks to strengthen that alignment: (1) continually incorporating and strategically timing the introduction of integrated visions; (2) reforming governance arrangements to encourage interagency collaboration and multi-stakeholder cooperation; and (3) supporting integrated visions and institutional cooperation with standardized metrics and assessment methods. This article is also the introduction to the Special Issue ‘One Atmosphere: Integrating Air Pollution and Climate Policy and Governance’, aimed at fostering the multidisciplinary dialogue needed for more integrated air pollution and climate change policies.

Description: Not only is the climate changing, but so is global climate governance. Climate policy initiatives have proliferated within and beyond the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) regime in a polycentric pattern. Nevertheless, promised action under the Paris Agreement (PA) is far from being sufficient to achieve its targets of keeping global warming below 2 °C. A special research focus has emerged on international ‘climate clubs’, referring to a smaller group’s greater ability to make progress in international climate policy compared to large global forums. Against this background, our paper reflects on the club functions of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), a transnational partnership that aims at slowing the rate of near-term global warming through the reduction of short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs). How does the CCAC contribute to global climate governance and how does this relate to existing structures, such as the UNFCCC process and the PA? Researchers have generally found that climate clubs can raise ambition, produce emissions reductions, and/or enhance cooperation, while generating additional benefits for its members. However, their specific governance contribution remains rather opaque, for example, how emissions reductions are achieved. There is a lack of analytical application, knowledge of the political practice and of in-depth case studies of the clubs concept. This paper contributes to filling this gap by applying central aspects of clubs research, namely membership and size, public goods, and the provision of additional benefits as an analytical framework in one in-depth case study of a governance initiative that has not yet been the subject of academic scrutiny: the CCAC. The results are based on expert interviews and the analysis of strategic and academic documents. Overall, this research finds that the CCAC’s largest contribution to global climate governance lies in preparing SLCP emissions reductions through raising awareness, orchestrating different actors and actions related to SLCPs, and establishing a large technical cooperation network. To some degree it also directly implements SLCP reduction projects. Ultimately, it complements the UNFCCC and especially the Paris Agreement. Members are part of the CCAC because its benefits go beyond climate change mitigation. Its large transnational membership constellation both supports and challenges its governance contribution.

Description: Since January, Germany has held the presidency of the Group of 7 (G7). In line with its own national priorities, the German government announced ambitious climate policy goals for its G7 presidency. They included accelerating the global coal phase-out and enhancing sectoral decarbonization. The G7 presidency also introduced the concept of a G7-based climate club, which represents an opportunity to intensify transatlantic climate and energy relations.

Description: If there’s one thing that we can all agree on, it’s the need for greater citizen participation – especially when it comes to protecting the climate. But how can we make participation work?

Description: Germany and the United States are both important players in international energy and climate policy. They are major international donors in the energy sector, they participate in manifold bi- and multilateral cooperation formats in the realm of energy and climate policy and they have historically both been leaders in clean energy technology development. Notwithstanding, they have very different starting conditions for and approaches to energy and climate policy. While the US is nearly energy independent, in Germany, the Russian war against the Ukraine has highlighted the high dependence on energy imports. Yet, Germany has experienced a strong increase in renewable energy production, fostered by strong state regulation, as it is an essential element of its climate policy. In the US, overall, renewable energy production has grown at a slower pace, also because climate policy has faced curvier roads through the past decades, and political conditions have changed often. This article seeks to take stock of where Germany and the US stand at this moment with their energy systems as well as their climate policies and examines common interests and cooperation potentials that can support sustainability transformations on both sides of the Atlantic.

Description: Deutschland und die Vereinigten Staaten sind beide wichtige Akteure in der internationalen Klimapolitik: Sie sind bedeutende internationale Geber im Energiesektor, sie beteiligen sich an vielfältigen bi- und multilateralen Kooperationsformaten im Bereich der Energie- und Klimapolitik und sind beide historisch führend in der Entwicklung sauberer Energietechnologien. Die beiden Länder haben jedoch sehr unterschiedliche Ausgangsbedingungen wie auch politische Regulierungsansätze für die Themen Energie und Klima. Während die USA nahezu energieautark sind, hat der russische Krieg in der Ukraine die starke deutsche Abhängigkeit von Energieimporten hervorgehoben. Nichtsdestotrotz hat Deutschland in den letzten Jahren einen besonders starken Zuwachs an erneuerbaren Energien erlebt, angeregt durch staatliche Regulierung, da erneuerbare Energien ein zentraler Bestandteil der Klimaschutzstrategie sind. In den USA ist der Zuwachs an erneuerbaren Energien gemäßigter, auch auf Grund dessen, dass der Klimaschutz hier in den letzten Jahrzehnten sehr stark wechselnden politischen Rahmenbedingungen ausgesetzt war. Mit diesem Artikel wird eine Bestandsaufnahme vorgelegt, wo Deutschland und die USA derzeit mit ihren Energiesystemen sowie ihrer Klimapolitik stehen. Ferner werden gemeinsame Interessen und Kooperationspotenziale identifiziert, die Nachhaltigkeitstransformationen auf beiden Seiten des Atlantiks unterstützen können.